


Death Is A Fickle Mistress and So Is Time

by shadowlancer_95



Series: Endgame AUs [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, BAMF Loki (Marvel), BAMF Tony Stark, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Fuck Canon, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Inaccurate portrayal of time travel, Infinity War and Endgame?, Loki and Tony are a great team, MCU canon ended with Thor Ragnarok didn’t it?, Non-Chronological, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, fuck canon so hard, or maybe that's my inner FrostIron speaking, what are those?, wibbley wobbly timey wimey stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 07:23:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18615883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowlancer_95/pseuds/shadowlancer_95
Summary: “Besides,” the hero continued, his face scrunching up, “I still need to get back at you for one thing. It was totally you back in 2012 wasn’t it? You knew who I was in that stupid outfit didn’t you?”Loki felt his lips curl but he raised an eyebrow, “You must be delusional Stark, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”Or,The Endgame Fix-It I needed so badly.*CONTAINS ENDGAME SPOILERS*





	Death Is A Fickle Mistress and So Is Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, so first of all, SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS ENDGAME AHEAD! 
> 
> If you haven’t watched it, and you mind spoilers, don’t read it! Otherwise, read at your own risk! 
> 
> This is a self-indulgent fic because I was extremely pissed off that in the span of two movies, the Russo’s managed to kill off both of my favorite characters. Aka Loki and Tony. 
> 
> The former definitely deserve to have a total of 5 minutes of screen time wherein he got fridged and never mentioned ever again because the directors didn’t know what to do with him. Loki could have been a powerful ally working with Thor but no, they didn’t want to deal with working with his complicated character. 
> 
> And Tony? Don’t get me started on Tony. I watched Endgame two days ago, and - like everyone else - absolutely hated the ending. Tony Stark, face of the MCU, dead? Good lord that was terrible. 
> 
> Was it a heroic death? Of course, it was the ultimate sacrifice. Did he deserve it? Absolutely not! If there is one person in the whole of MCU that deserves to have a happy ending that involves growing old and leading a life with his family - it’s Tony Stark. He’s been fixing mess after mess after mess for so many years, and the Russo’s thought it was a good idea to introduce a daughter and a wife and clearly a life where he was at peace and then rip it all away? No thanks. Tony deserved better than that, he deserved to rest, but rest does not equal death. 
> 
>  
> 
> I have more to rant, but this authors note has gotten long enough, so I will place some of my thoughts at the end of the fic. 
> 
> Meanwhile, please do enjoy this fic, where it’s nothing more than a gratuitous fic to bring Loki back to life and to give Tony the happy ending he deserves. (Heads up, its mostly a Loki-centric fic) 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Marvel, otherwise Infinity War and Endgame would never have happened. 
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out!

_2014_

When Thanos disappears from the universe, it takes all of five seconds for him to notice.

It isn’t because the Mad Titan had drifted farther into the void of space, away from Yggdrasil, in a bid to hunt for the stones. No, this was different. His time with the Titan had left an impression in his _seidr_ – in his very _soul_. No matter what he wanted, no matter how much he _hated_ it, he had a connection to Thanos that he could never destroy, not without stripping himself of his own magic and _then_ some.

So when his link to the Titan shivered and vanished completely, Loki noticed almost immediately. He had spent the last two years scouting the universe for the stones, taking note of the titan’s army count, spending as much time as he could gathering allies for Asgard – without letting Asgard know – and generally keeping track of where each stone was supposed to be. A part of him downright  _detested_ Heimdall for his complicity in betraying him all those years ago, but another part, the bigger part, recognizes the way the Gatekeeper had kept watch for the people of Asgard when Hela had invaded, the way he fought till his last breath to let the surviving Asgardians run with Valkyrie. So periodically, he dropped the enchantment hiding him from the Gatekeeper’s eyes, letting Heimdall find him long enough to know he was alive before he hid himself again.

His gamble seemed to have paid off, since the Einherjar never made an appearance wherever he was, and he could make allies in peace.

For now though, when the connection shivered and died, leaving nothing but an empty black hole on the other end, Loki hesitated for a split second before bringing out the Tesseract, disappearing quickly into a portal. He reappeared near one of Thanos’ known army outpost, a desolate planet that had once been teeming with life until it gained the interest of the Mad Titan. He searched the skies and the ground, but apart from minor lifeforms scuttling across the barren land, there was no sign of the Chitauri or the Outriders. There was no battleship hovering above the ground, no noisy chitter from the chitauri troops as they shoved and fought each other, no space whales soaring through the air, their moan echoing across the planet.

There was nothing.

He could see evidence of their inhabitation, the deep grooves in the ground, the cloud of dust kicked up by the stampeding army hadn’t even settled.

The empty plain only confirmed what his magic already knew – that Thanos had disappeared from this timeline. Loki sighed, tilting his head backwards to stare into expansive black sky, the stars of this solar system splashed across the dark canvas, his cape gently floating in the wind. For as long as he could remember – ten years had been simultaneously too long and too short – he had been living with the knowledge of Thanos hovering over his head like a guillotine waiting to fall (and fall it did – he still remembered how it felt to have the life squeezed out of him, how there was a sharp pain and then –).

Now, though, Thanos was gone. He wasn’t just in the deep end of space with millions of light years and the barrier of Yggdrasil separating them. He was truly, in all manner of speaking, erased from this universe. The genocidal alien wasn’t coming back, _ever_. This was the opportunity of a lifetime – in more ways than one. It wasn’t just riddance of a cruel puppet master, a villain in all senses of the word – this was a true opportunity for him to just _breathe_. To be able to stop skulking around in back alleys of worlds so filthy and violent, to be able to stop having to look over his shoulder and sleep with one eye open each night, carefully weaving a web of spells over himself, to be able to stop hiding from both Heimdall’s sight and the forces of the Mad Titan himself. He could stop here, throw off the disguise he’d been living under for the past two years and start his life again because Thanos was gone.

He could do all that – nobody would ever know.

He was dead in his own timeline, missing in this one, and nobody would care to look for him anymore. Asgard would forget about him soon enough, his disappearance was likely to be celebrated as opposed to be missed. His mother would be the only person to look for him, but he could reach out to her via dreamwalk if he ever needed – wanted – to. So there was no one, nothing tying him down. He could leave and never look back. He could run, set up a life for himself, start over with no strings attached.

He could do that.

He _wanted_ to do that.

But – _but_ –

* * *

_2018_

He woke violently, gasping for air that he didn’t need, his hand flying instinctively to his neck as it throbbed with phantom pain. He spent the next few minutes – or hours or days, he didn’t know – shuddering and trying to even out his breathing.

Eventually, he opened his eyes, monochrome grey greeting him.

Loki heaved himself to his feet, noting that the dark forest green of his cape was the only splash of colour in the entire space. He turned, scanning the terrain quickly, coming to the conclusion that there was no one else around.

Whispers and shadows danced around him, but he ignored them, setting his sights on the jagged spires in the distance. A quick spell for light reassured him that he still had his _seidr_ , and his lips twisted into a mockery of a grin. He spared a thought for his brother, hoping that his last spell had saved him from the power of the stone.

Taking a deep breath, Loki took a step forward, the ground crunching under his boots. A glance downwards told him that the white and grey soil he was standing on was not, in fact, soil at all, but the shattered fragments of bones. He grimaced, but pushed the morbid thought away, focusing on the black mountain ridge he could see fading in and out of the mist. He kept a dagger in one hand – longer and carved with his own runes, unlike the letter opener he had used against Thanos – and an ear out for the whispers of what he now knew was the dead.

He walked, never turning back despite the strong urge to, never blinking when a shadow danced at the corner of his eyes.

He kept his vision focused on his destination, and tried not to lose himself as he walked.

* * *

_2012_

It was almost unbelievable.

When the chains had been slapped onto him, Loki felt only triumph, even if he kept a sullen look on his face while the heroes dragged and shoved him along. His body hurt – of course it did, getting smashed around by a green giant would definitely break some bones – but his mind was _clear_. The gag that Thor slapped onto his face was a blessing in disguise, because he didn’t think he would be able to hold back the grin that broke out behind the metal. The Other's presence in his ind was all but gone - the connection shattered from the force of the Hulk's strength. The Chitauri was dead, their numbers reduced to a scant few percent of their original count and the best thing of all: Thanos had lost not one, but _two_ Infinity Stones.

His mind spun with plans, the possibilities spreading and jumping from point to point in his mind, four half-laid out plans already bubbling in his mind by the time the Avengers hustled him into the lift. They were around the seventieth floor when he stumbled, shaking Thor’s hand off when his brother grabbed onto his elbow, ignoring the way the rest of the humans tensed, their weapons half out of their holsters.

_Idiots_ , he snarled internally, their bullets were of no impact on him, and they would sooner kill themselves than ever leave a scratch on him. He could count thirteen different ways to incapacitate or kill all the mortals in the contraption with him, after which he would likely be smashed by Thor.

Shaking his head, Loki narrowed his eyes. That had most definitely been the presence of  _seidr_ , but as far as he knew, none of these humans were capable of performing magic, and Thor wasn’t subtle enough to probe his own like that.

He sneered at the humans while he stretched his own magic out, trying to feel for the source of the unknown pulse –

The lift doors opened, and Loki stepped out calmly while the humans all buzzed around him in a frenzy. He smirked as he breezed past Stark – dressed in the dark blue uniform of the SWAT team that had surrounded the building – feeling the genius stiffen. The trickster allowed himself to stare at Stark, slowly and purposefully dragging his gaze towards the other, younger Stark and then back to the disguised one.

It made him want to laugh, the way Stark’s eyes widened behind the goggles, a hint of panic on his face that he quickly wiped away.

Loki remained passive while his two guides got into an argument with the other human, knowing that Thor would win out eventually.

Except –

Stark – the one in a black shirt with equally black hair – suddenly gripped his chest and collapsed, his body convulsing. Loki took a step back, letting his brother and the humans swarm the genius on the floor, their shouts for a medic overlapping each other. In the midst of the chaos, he watched bemusedly as the cleverly disguised Stark snagged the briefcase quickly, hurrying away before someone could catch him.

The god turned back to the one on the ground, rolling his eyes when his brother started pushing the other humans away, insisting that he could try something to help. It was _so_ like Thor, honestly, to rush into things without considering the consequences first.

It had come as a surprise then when the Hulk exploded from the stairwell angrily, smacking the disguised Stark with the door, sending him flying.

Loki stared down at the Tesseract by his feet.

_Well, why not?_

He bent and picked it up, vanishing immediately.

* * *

_2018_

“I have to say, this is _not_ what I was expecting.”

The snarl he got in return was honestly impressive, and if he were a lesser man, he would have flinched. As it was, Loki merely raised an eyebrow, allowing an arrogant smirk to play on his lips. He clasped his hands behind his back, the being in front of him growling at the audacious move.

“I suppose it can’t be helped,” he sighed mockingly, “Surtur _was_ called the bane of Asgard for a reason.”

Across from him, Hela snarled.

The goddess of death had a pair of blades in her hands, but Loki wasn’t concerned. He could feel the power – or lack thereof – in her, and he knew that she was no longer the same being as the one he’d faced back on Asgard. The goddess’ horned helm was broken and shattered, the deadly curved edges broken off into stumps in some places, the helm itself cracked and burnt. Her obsidian outfit was torn and scorched all over, the flesh underneath an ugly, blistering red, strips of flesh hanging off her body in some places. Her eyes blazed with anger but the skin on the left side of her face had all but burned off, leaving behind a gruesome mixture of muscles and bone.

Loki observed her impassively, silently admiring the way she forced herself to stand tall despite the wounds that littered her body. He was sure that she was on the brink of death, but seeing him had sent her into a frenzied rage that gave her the strength to summon her swords.

“If you think for a moment that I will _let_ you –”

“I came here to negotiate a deal with you dear sister, to offer you a chance to meet the being who has proclaimed his love for you,” Loki interrupted, unclasping his hands from behind his back, “But I see now that you are useless to me.”

“Step closer Loki Odinson,” she hissed, “And I will show you just _how_ useless I am!”

Loki smirked, “No thank you, I am not my brother, stupid enough to fall for such a trick.”

Hela bared her teeth, “You want to resurrect yourself don’t you? I won’t allow it!”

The trickster cocked his head to one side, twin daggers appearing in his hands in a flash. “I don’t _need_ you to allow it.”

Hela reared back in shock, then narrowed her remaining eye. “You want to kill me? _Fool_!” she snapped, “You _cannot_ kill me, I am the Goddess of Death!”

“A misnomer, as anyone with half a brain should realize.” Loki retorted. “You are but a guardian of Death’s domain, you hold no power of Death itself except the power to slaughter hundreds and bathe in their blood.”

The God of Lies grinned humorlessly, “There will _always_ be another Guardian of Death sister, you’re not the only one.”

With an incoherent shout of rage, she launched herself at him, and Loki snarled and lunged forward as well, his seidr flaring protectively around him.

Their clash shook the mountains, and the dead wailed. 

* * *

_2023_

He arrives to a land scorched with explosions and a sky darkened with ash and smoke.

It was so different from his previous few jaunts to Midgard that Loki had to do a double take, just to make sure he hadn’t miscalculated and ended up in Muspelheim by accident.

The screams of the Chitauri echoed across the battlefield, accompanied by answering roars from Midgardians and Asgardians alike.

Standing on the edge of the warzone, Loki watched as the heroes of Midgard clashed with the army of the Mad Titan. He fought down a wave of surprise as the Valkyrie soared overhead on her Pegasus, the brilliant white coat of the majestic animal standing in contrast to the dull colour of the flying chitauri. He watched as the Asgardians – what was left of them – answered Thor’s roar with their own, throwing themselves into battle and fighting back to back with the Midgardians they once looked down upon.

Five years was a long time when everything you had had been stripped away he supposed.

Flashes of orange announced the presence of the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, their magic saturating the air. He saw a streak of red and gold, the suit of armor blasting everything that stood in its path. He watched as lightning arced from the sky, smashing down on several aliens. Loki grimaced slightly, the power that Thor held currently far lower than what he had wielded against Hela. When all this was over, he would have to have a good chat with Thor on why he _shouldn’t_ depend on a weapon to throw around, and possibly remind him that his powers never stemmed from Mjolnir to begin with.

A crimson flash drew his attention, and he found himself zeroing in on the Mad Titan in all his maniacal glory. The Titan threw the Witch aside, his attempt at skewering her interrupted by a streak of red and gold. Loki watched as Tony Stark slammed into Thanos’ side, throwing him away from the fallen Witch. The genius fought ferociously, punching and blasting the titan repeatedly, never letting up for even a moment.

But Thanos was heralded as a harbringer of death for a reason, and a split second was all he needed. The Titan’s hand clamped around a metal leg, flinging Stark against a segment of a broken ship. Thanos raised his sword and Loki could see Stark trying to form a shield, could see Valkyrie hesitating in the air before she threw the Gauntlet at the other flying armor, diving downwards with her sword raised.

He also knew that she wouldn’t reach the man in time.

Sighing, Loki reached into his interdimensional pocket with one hand, vanishing with a pulse of power.

He reappeared between Thanos and Stark, pulling his weapon out and raising it just in time to catch the gigantic blade. He braced himself against the force of the titan’s downward strike as metal screeched against metal. The trickster god felt a stab of vicious satisfaction at the way Thanos’ eyes widened in surprise, the golden opportunity allowing him to shove the sword to the right, where it fell to the ground with a thunk. He whirled and stabbed the other end of his double-bladed weapon into the Titan’s gut yanking out the blade and slashing upwards at his face, the purple being howling as the edge sliced into his eye.

Loki grinned savagely as Thanos stumbled back, clamping one hand over the injured eye, viscous liquid trickling down his face.

He felt more than saw the shock of both the Valkyrie and Stark.

“ _Holy_ – Reindeer Games?”

“Stand up Stark.” He barked, keeping his eye on Thanos all the while. He gripped the middle section of his weapon with both hands, _seidr_ sparking between his fingers as he yanked them apart, the weapon splitting into two swords, both carved with runes and glowing with magic. He planted himself in front of Stark, narrowing his eyes at the Titan as he let his magic flow over him, his armor wrapping around his body. Above him, he could feel the Valkyrie flying away, drawing the attention of one of the space whales away from them.

His horns curved towards the heavens, gleaming a bright golden in the midst of the darkness. It was as much a comfort for him, as it was a beacon for Thor - a sign to his brother that he was alive.

“ _You_.” Thanos sneered, his ugly features contorting into rage. “You _dare_ to show your face before me after your failure?”

“ _Oh_ ,” Loki purred, sliding into a crouch as his eyes lit up with mania, “You have _no_ idea how long I’ve spent wanting to _rip_ that head of yours from your shoulders.

Then he leapt.

The power of the Tesseract coursed through his veins, and he grinned when Thanos reared back in surprise and confusion, taking the opportunity to slash at the alien, the runes on his blade shimmering with brightness.

Thanos roared with pain as each cut burned like it had been poisoned, an effect of the runes and sigils he had painstakingly carved into his weapon. The Titan growled and swung his sword in a wide arc, prompting Loki to drop to the ground. He rolled out of the way of the alien’s armored boot, just as another - smaller - boot crashed into the titan’s head, a whine and a blast exploding against Thanos’ back.

The trickster god grinned and leapt back into the fray, the bloodlust singing in his veins as he worked in perfect synchronization with Stark, the mortal taking to the air - his aerial assault never ceasing - with him spinning and whirling in flashes of blue around the titan, the two of them working in sync and covering each other’s backs.

* * *

_2014_

In the end, it wasn’t even a choice.

He could have turned his back and lived out the remainder of his life on some secluded planet in the galaxy, building himself a garden and possibly carving a name for himself if he so wished to.

But he thought of Thor, who had drunk himself into a stupor, unsightly and unbefitting of a king. Thor, who had watched his home be destroyed, his friends be slaughtered in front of him. Thor, who had lost so much in so little time, who had nobody but his friends from Sakaar and a bunch of mortals who would fade away in the blink of an eye.

In the end, it wasn’t much of a decision.

For all that Loki had accused Thor of being sentimental, he too suffered from his own hypocrisy. Because they were two sides of a coin – there was no Thor without Loki, and no Loki without Thor. He had returned to Asgard because he didn’t want to let his brother face their maniacal sister alone, he hadn’t run from Thanos the first time around when the alien’s ship swallowed theirs whole, and he didn’t want to let Thor – _his_ Thor – face the Titan alone with a crumbling sanity for company.

So Loki sighed once again and steeled himself, determination and conviction flickering to life within him.

He reached into one of his interdimensional pockets, fishing out the glowing cube that had caused his death in another life. The trickster god held the stone in both hands, closing his eyes in concentration. He entwined his magic with that of the stone, hissing as power rushed through his veins painfully, the sudden influx of energy almost causing him to drop the stone. Gritting his teeth, Loki forced himself to remain calm, carefully siphoning the energy from the core of the stone, letting it disperse through his veins, the power crackling under his skin as it seeped through his very soul.

He felt a probing sensation in his mind, and – with great reluctance – lowered the mental barriers all mages learnt in their first lesson.

The stones were not sentient in the way he was, but they had their own brand of intelligence. They did not feel or emote like the life forms of the universe did, but they could process events that happened, even if they cared not for the whims of men. But the stones could peer into the heart of the individual who wanted to wield them, could reach deep into the person’s soul and judge it.

It was why most wielders needed both a conduit – like the Gauntlet – and an impressive mental barrier. It was why Thanos had had his entire left arm burnt and scorched to the point of uselessness after the wiping out half the entire universe.

If you let the stones in, let them read your heart and your truest intentions – because the soul cannot lie even if the mind conceals the truth completely – and if the stones found your intentions lacking, they would destroy you completely. Each stone could do that, _every_ one of them was sentient in _this_ manner. Thanos had subverted their sentience, had forced them to do his bidding through a mix of unholy magick and blood sacrifice, but he had paid the price.

Loki intended to take a different path.

So he braced himself and bared his soul in a way he’d never done before to the stone in his hands. He felt its power creep into every crevice of his soul, scouring the depths of his conviction and his beliefs. For the first time in his entire life, he was entirely honest – with both himself and the entity he was connected to.

After what seemed like eons, he felt a ripple of warmth as something clicked in his chest, and the god let out a breath, shoulders slumping with relief. A thrum of what seemed like amusement hummed in his chest, and his lips curled up into a wry grin. With permission granted, Loki took the rest of the energy, melding the stone’s core with his own. The power pulsed once, twice, then settled somewhere under his sternum, a source of power and magic far greater than his own.

The trickster god grinned, his eyes glowing a bright azure.

With a thought and a whisper, he vanished.

* * *

_2023_

The roar of the ships’ engines was deafening.

Loki spared a glance at the huge, spinning ring-like ships that glowed a deep crimson, scowling at the cries of those who were crushed and ground to a pulp under their grooves. He heard Stark curse, and Thanos grinned at them, his confidence returning momentarily.

“We need a plan,” Tony panted, darting forward to kick Thanos in the face, flipping backwards to let Loki slash at him, the trickster vanishing before the blade chopped him in half. “Those things are doing too much damage and I don’t see your brother or Danvers anywhere -”

They both split apart, dodging Thanos when he came barreling at them. Tony backed up and unleashed a barrage of repulsor blasts at him, keeping an ear out for the shouts going on in the background, the Gauntlet passing through countless hands as it made its way across the battlefield.

“Stark!” Loki called, fixing the hilt of both swords together and slamming one end into the ground, the earth shaking as it exploded with iridescent green under the titan, sending the behemoth flying backwards. The two of them stood side by side, a situation Tony had never thought was possible with the person who invaded New York and all but brought the Avengers together.

(And _oh_ , wasn’t _that_ a thought?)

“I have no idea who Danvers is, but my brother is busy over at the other end.” Loki said, interrupting Tony’s thoughts.

“I will take care of those ships, make sure he does not get his hands on the stones again.” The god growled, to which Tony nodded.

“Good luck,” he offered.

The god disappeared, and Tony spared several seconds wondering how he was going to handle those huge ass ships before Thanos rudely made his presence known, a war cry erupting from the alien as he charged at Earth’s greatest defender.

If there was one thing he was glad about the five years spent in the wake of their greatest failure - apart from Morgan and Pepper - it was that he’d spent so many times reviewing his battle on Titan that he had made dozens of simulations of battle against Thanos, analyzing his fighting style and coming up with counters for each. It was a guilt he carried wondering if he could have done anything differently, a secret that he never told Pepper, knowing that she would only give him a look of understanding, something that would make him feel even worse than he already did.

But this Thanos was slightly different from his other counterpart - he was less jaded, more cruel, more prone to violence and gloating. His attacks were far more vicious, every strike seeking to maim and kill rather than incapacitate. But FRIDAY was a learning AI, and she had started matching the attacks of both versions of Thanos since he began fighting him, formulating the best counter that she could given the circumstances. His AI whispered in his ear, and Tony allowed himself a smirk.

He flew towards Thanos, meeting the titan head on like he did back on the other planet. He slammed a mallet into the titan’s gut, his blasters on his back extending and firing at the same time, blinding the alien while he pivoted and sliced downwards with his other leg, an energy blade forming at the sole of the boot. The blade cut through his skin, gouging a deep wound that ran from the alien’s left shoulder to his right hip in addition to the slight burn on his shoulders where the armor had been ripped away. There was a snarl of pain, and from the growing rage on Thanos’ face, he hadn’t expected such a thing to happen.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a bluish-white flash, and a part of him marveled at how all ten of the ships had been frozen solid almost immediately, along with a good number of aliens soldiers that had been near the rear of the army. Tony wondered just _how_ powerful Loki was if he could stop those machines so easily, and he couldn’t help but be thankful that a) the god hadn’t frozen any allies (at least he hoped so) and b) that he clearly, _clearly_ hadn’t been using his full strength back in New York.

(It made him wonder just how badly it would have gone had Loki _truly_ wanted to take over the planet.)

He returned his focus to Thanos, whose face contorted in anger at the loss of a substantial amount of his army. Tony launched himself at him, only to yelp as he suddenly veered off course, crashing to the ground painfully. He rolled onto all fours, gritting his teeth when he saw discount Squidward smirking - or at least he thought the creature was smirking, the elongated nose and ugly features made it hard to be sure - at him, wriggling his fingers.

“Fry, take the wheel if I go out of trajectory alright?”

His AI responded in affirmative, and he felt the armor respond to his thoughts, shooting him towards the telekinetic alien. Ebony Maw waved his hand and Tony felt the armor slide to the left before the left thrusters fired up and put him back on the path. He fired a round of blasts at the alien, who shifted backwards on his pile of debris and - to Tony’s horror - corpses. The genius pushed the suit faster, the armor blurring as he flew past the alien, clipping him in the side with a leg. The alien flew backwards from the force, using his powers to quickly right himself in the air.

“Boss!” FRIDAY’s panicked cry suddenly erupted in his ear, “Boss, Thanos is going for the Gauntlet!”

Tony’s head whipped around, spying the alien who had taken the opportunity to run away, barreling straight into Carol, the Gauntlet in her hands flying to one side.

“You should be concentrating on _me_  insect.” the Squidward wannabe sneered, flicking his hand, a pile of debris flying towards Tony.

The genius snarled and opened fire, the debris exploding into pieces. He flew through the smoke, slamming a reinforced leg into the alien’s chest. He flew towards Carol, yelling in frustration when he felt something snag his ankle and yank him backwards. He let loose another barrage of repuslor fire, turning to watch with growing panic as Carol tried to stop Thanos alone, her body glowing with power that wasn’t enough to stop the Titan.

The force around his ankle vanished and he tumbled in the air for a second before righting himself. He looked, finding Loki having returned, a look of pure fury on his face.

“Ah, the prodigal son returns.” Fake-Voldemort sneered, lacing his fingers together. “You would do well to beg our Lord for mercy for the failure of your mission. You do have such a beautiful voice after all.”

The snarl that tore itself from the god’s throat was nothing short of animalistic. It was ferocious enough that Tony flinched back, the implications of what the alien said not lost on him.

“Stark, get to _him_. This pathetic creature is _mine_.” Loki growled, his magic crackling to life around him.

Tony hesitated, then turned to where Carol was going head to head with Thanos, who had the Gauntlet slipped on already.

“One more thing,” Loki called, waiting until Tony looked at him before he continued, “The gauntlet - it’s made from _your_ technology isn’t it?”

Behind the mask, Tony’s eyes widened.

The trickster vanished and appeared in front of the octopus-like alien, his hands glowing green.

The genius yelled in frustration and shot towards the Titan, who had headbutted Carol, the heroine getting up almost immediately as she latched onto his right arm, not allowing him to use the stones. Tony fired the unibeam, the energy blast catching Thanos in the chest, propelling him away from Carol. She flew after him immediately, punching him with a fist full of her energy blast before he could close his fist, the gauntlet already sparking with energy. 

Loki’s words suddenly rang in his mind.

_“The gauntlet is_ yours _, isn’t it?”_

He knew what he needed to do.

Thanos blasted Carol away with the power stone and Tony launched himself at the titan, kicking and punching as much as he could - clamping his right hand over the gauntlet. When Thanos grabbed him and threw him through a wall, he let him, even though the impact jarred his body, cracking more than a few of his bones.

The snap echoed in the battlefield, and he relished the sight of a flummoxed Thanos, who looked at his hand in confusion, before turning his over,realizing belatedly that the stones were gone.

The alien looked at him in horror, and Tony raised his own gauntlet, displaying the glittering stones for the titan to see.

“No,” Thanos breathed. “This is impossible. I am Destiny, I am the inevitable!”

Tony smiled at him, the fear in his heart replaced with peace. “And _I_ ,” he paused, thinking back to the past, “am Ironman.”

He snapped.

* * *

Ebony Maw’s head dropped to the ground with a satisfying thud. 

Loki allowed himself to relax slightly, a weight in his heart vanishing. The battle had been mostly one-sided, since the other alien had underestimated him. He remembered what the creature did to him, how he taunted him and experimented on him, giving snide and condescending comments all the while. 

The Other had broken his body, but it was Ebony Maw who had dug his claws in his psyche and shattered his mind bit by agonizing bit. He had sifted through his very soul and scrutinized his insecurities, attacking each and every doubt he ever had. 

It had taken him a long time to build those walls back up again, and Loki had always wanted to pay Maw back for what he did. 

With full access to his _seidr_ now, it was child’s play to rip apart the alien’s body - since Ebony Maw never bothered to train himself to fight - his telekinesis useless against his magic. Loki has taken great pleasure in grasping that mind - that the alien so treasured - and slowly breaking it apart. He took pleasure in stripping all sense of logic and thought from the alien as he did so, crushing the alien’s mind as painfully as he could. 

And when Ebony Maw was nothing more than a whimpering mess, he sneered and sliced his head off, watching with vicious satisfaction as it dropped to the ground with a sickening squelch. 

A snap cut through the cacophony of the field, somehow ringing loud and clear despite the noise of the battles going on around. 

Loki watched as the Chitauri and the Outriders slowly crumbled to dust, their ships following suit. He turned to where he knew Stark had flown to, and smiled. 

He’d done it then. 

The smile on his face dropped when he saw Stark collapse bonelessly against a piece of debris jutting out from the ground, his entire right side full of ugly burns. 

The trickster god sighed. 

He _could_ leave him there, he had no obligation to save the mortal now that Thanos was starting to fade away. The job was complete, and he could leave now, before any of the heroes decided they wanted to kill him too. But then he remembered how Stark had been the only person apart from his mother to treat him with even a modicum of kindness. 

Loki cursed under his breath.  _Sentiment_ , he sneered to himself, but vanished in a blue portal anyway, appearing in front of Stark. 

The Asgardian crouched down in front of the hero, calling his name softly. 

When Tony finally looked at him, Loki grimaced, knowing that the mortal had a scant few minutes before the cosmic power of the stones consumed him completely. The god frowned and sighed again. He pressed his left hand to the right side of Tony’s face, a flicker of confusion in the genius’ features. 

Tony wheezed, nothing but a soft gasp of air escaping his lips. 

“Hush, let me work.” Loki murmured, closing his eyes as he traced the power of the stones intertwined with metal suit and human flesh. 

The god let his _seidr_ flow, feeling the way the stones’ energy seemed to be embedded within the suit’s right arm. That was a good sign, because it meant that he could extract the stones without harming the mortal too much. 

At least, he could likely do it without Stark dying, but his arm might suffer a different fate. 

Loki sincerely hoped that the man’s family would prefer a disabled Stark to a dead one.

He slowly pulled at the thread of energies, careful not to mix the signatures of each individual stone as he did so. He embedded them into these suit first, pulling them away from human flesh, stopping the slow decay from spreading. 

Bit by bit, thread by thread, Loki unraveled the intricate web that had been created when Tony snapped, grimacing when the stones began to fight his influence as he got closer to the main section of the gauntlet. Taking a deep breath, he focused and _yanked_ -

Tony jerked and bit back a scream as the gauntlet and the stones came off in one swift motion, the cool air burning the charred remains of his right arm. 

Loki threw the gauntlet to the side, resisting the temptation to stuff it into his interdimensional pocket. He placed his hand over the disfigured arm, frowning at the extensive damage. 

“I may not be able to salvage your arm.” Loki muttered, his eyes flicking to meet Stark’s. 

The man’s lips pinched together, but he shook his head, “I thought I was going to die,” he rasped, “I can live without an arm.” 

The trickster would have said more, but he was interrupted by a chorus of shouts. 

“Mr Stark!” “Tony!”

Loki stood up and backed away, getting out of the range of fire when a blur of blue, red and gold tackled Stark. He met the suspicious glare of Stark’s best friend evenly, letting the man assess what he saw. He felt the weighted stares of the heroes, heard the snick of an arrow being drawn and more than a few guns being cocked.

His face darkened, all good humor vanishing as his fingers twitched. He _had_ just saved their leader hadn’t he? _Surely_ that merited gratitude of some kind? His thoughts were interrupted by a shuffle, and he turned to see Thor standing an arm’s length away from him, a vulnerable look in his eyes.

“ _Loki_ ,” the thunderer whispered, “This isn’t a trick is it?”

Loki sighed, turning to face his brother fully, even as it placed his back to the heroes who had their weapons all drawn and armed.

The gesture didn’t go unnoticed by his brother, and Thor stepped closer, reaching out with a trembling hand. Loki stood still, letting Thor brush his fingers against his neck, fighting the flinch when he was reminded of another set of hands near his neck, squeezing so tightly until -

A broken sob brought his attention back to the present, and Loki focused long enough to realize Thor had dropped his newest weapon - Stormbreaker? - his hand clamping down on his shoulder and dragging him into a hug.

The trickster made a noise of surprise, his hands frozen in mid air.

“You’re real, you’re _real_ \- _god_ , Loki you’re real aren’t you? You’re alive - I -”

Loki sighed, slowly bringing his hands up to wrap around his brother’s body, hooking his chin over Thor’s shoulder. He closed his eyes, aware that he was displaying his vulnerability for the world to see but unable to find it in himself to care. Perhaps it was a side effect of having bared his soul to one of the cosmic powers of the universe, or perhaps it was the fact that they were the only ones left in their family, that they were Thor and Loki, brothers despite everything.

Perhaps.

“I’m here,” he murmured, echoing the words he’d said back on the Stateman a lifetime ago.

“Don’t leave.” Thor pleaded, his voice cracking, “Don’t leave, _please_. I can’t handle it again.”

“I’m _here_ ,” Loki repeated, feeling a surge of emotion within him, “I’m not leaving, I promise.”

* * *

_2018_

He went from the darkness of space to a desolate planet with a quick blink, wondering just what was calling him so incessantly that he’d been pulled here. 

Stepping around a mound of rocks, Loki scowled when he saw the self proclaimed sorcerer supreme sitting at the top of what seemed to have once been stairs. His eyes were closed, but Loki knew better than to assume the man was unaware. 

“You know when Bruce banner dropped into the sanctum claiming that the Asgardians were all dead, I didn’t believe it at first.” Strange commented, his astral form stepping out of his body, “At least, I didn’t believe _you_ were dead.”

“I’m flattered that you think so highly of me.” Loki sneered. 

Strange eyed him. “I didn’t think calling you would work, but - you’re _really_ dead aren’t you?”

The trickster snorted, crossing his arms, “For now, yes.” He confessed begrudgingly. 

It irked him somewhat that he couldn’t find his body. He'd gone through the trouble of killing Hela, only to return to a wreckage in space and no body to be found. He wondered if the power stone had destroyed it when it consumed the ship or if Thor had somehow decided to burn his body as a proper send off. Possible, but unlikely. Thor didn't have the habit of returning for the body if he left the vicinity, he should know, he'd spent hours in a wasteland on Svartalfheim hovering between life and death until Death had spit him back out and Thor had never once bothered to come back. 

Strange slumped, the action interrupting his thoughts, looking far older than he was.  

Loki scrutinized him for several moments, sighing internally when he recognized the signs of a strain borne from using an infinity stone for too long. 

“What did you see?”

Strange startled, shock coloring his face before he grimaced. “Fourteen million, six hundred and five futures, and only one where we win.”

Loki exhaled sharply. 

That was far lower odds than he’d expected. And he spent a moment cursing Hela and Thor and Odin in equal measure for screwing his plans over. 

“What is it?” he asked nonetheless.

“Tony Stark is the key." Strange replied somberly, "That is all I can say.”

Loki narrowed his eyes, “Thanos is coming is he not? Why not end it now?”

“It won’t be enough,” Strange replied shaking his head, “We come close, very close, but it won’t be enough.”

“You want me to not get involved,” the god guessed, anger sparking within him, “You want me to sit back and let Thanos _win_?”

“It’s the only way.” Strange said, “It's the _only_ way we can win.”

Loki snarled and flung a knife at strange, who dodged. “I have spent years,  _years_ , preparing for the Mad Titans arrival. I have spent _countless_ nights amassing allies and strengthening Asgard’s forces to prepare for his arrival and you _want_ me to sit back and _let_ him destroy half the universe on the off chance that it’s the path to the future in your _vision_?”

The trickster growled and whirled around, bristling with fury. “ _Forget_ it, I do what I want, I don’t take orders from second rate sorcerers like _you_.”

“Go ahead, I can’t stop you,” Strange agreed, “But what can _you_ do? You clearly don’t have a body - which means it’s either lost or destroyed, am I right? Otherwise you’d be back in there already.  You have magic yes, but you can _only_ affect the astral plane. The way you are? You won't even be able to land a hit on Thanos. let alone kill him.” 

Loki hissed, turning back to face Strange, his eyes blazing with anger. “You little -"

“Do what you want,” Strange interrupted, staring back at him tiredly, “I can’t stop you. If you can defeat him now, by all means, _do_ it. I hate being proven wrong, but I’d be more than happy if this were the case this time.”

Loki ground his teeth together. The other sorcerer's words struck a nerve, but they were true nonetheless. He had no physical body, and his ability to influence the world of the living was severely limited. He couldn't do anything against Thanos in his current predicament.

Strange deflated, his face softening. “I know what it means for you, I know what he’s done _to_ you” he said quietly, “If there were any other way I’d take it in a heartbeat. But there isn’t. Five years, that’s all I’m asking.”

Loki stared at him fir several seconds, then snarled wordlessly and walked away, disappearing from the planet, unwilling to face the Keeper of the Stone any longer.

Five years...

He suppose he could wait. 

* * *

_Bonus: 2024_

He isn’t sure why he’s here. 

Between the Guardians of the Galaxy, the newly coined Captain Marvel, Tony Stark and Wakanda, they had managed to perfect interplanetary communication.

(Or at least, improve it such that they could communicate with each other far more effectively than before, since the Wakandan princess would never allow for something to be called perfect when there was room for more improvement.)

Either way, before he left - Asgard was now a part of Midgard, and Thor had his own duties as king and Avenger - Stark had given him a sleek contraption he called a phone, insisting that he kept it no matter what.

The phone had rang while he was in the middle of a market on Alfheim, and Loki had scowled when it disrupted one of his bargains, but answered nonetheless. 

“If your reason for calling does not meet my expectations I will eviscerate you.” He snapped.

There was a momentary pause, followed by a chuckle. “Jeez lighten up will you Prancer? Did I accidentally spoil your attempt at swindling some poor soul out of their inheritance?”

Loki stared at the vendor who was smiling at him, ready to sell him a priceless artifact for what amounted to less than ten percent of its value. He turned away.

“No.” He replied gruffly. “What do you want?”

”I totally interrupted didn't I?” Stark laughed on the other end. “But never mind that, come back to earth in four days will you? We’re celebrating the anniversary of saving the universe.”

“You assume that three days is sufficient time for me to travel from where I am.”

“And you’re telling me you can’t just jump from one end of space to another Mr I-have-a-Tesseract?”

Loki fell silent. 

“Yeah, you were flashing blue all over the place. I’m honestly surprised no one else noticed.” Tony commented wryly. 

Loki growled but sneered, “What makes you think I even _want_ to go to Midgard and mingle with you mortal?”

Tony wasn’t stupid, and he heard the unspoken words loud and clear as day.

“If anyone gives you shit I’ll blast their heads off.” He said casually.

Loki snarled. “I do _not_ need your protection you -”

“And Rhodey is baking cookies.”

The god hesitated. 

“The chocolate chip ones?” He asked, cursing himself internally at the words that slipped out. 

“Yeah the chocolate chip ones.” Tony confirmed. 

“So,” the genius barreled on, “You’ll be coming yeah? I’ll save a space for you - see you in four days!” Then he hung up. 

Loki stared at the phone and growled, clenching it until it creaked ominously. Beside him, the vendor shifted away uneasily. 

It was now four days later and he somehow found himself standing here, at the edge of a lake, reluctant to step closer to the house sitting in front of it. It was a picturesque scene, and he wondered vaguely if he should even have come. He didn’t _need_ to be here, but neither did he _not_ want to be here. 

_Norns_ , Loki grimaced, _even his thoughts were confusing_. 

Shaking his head, he made to leave, intending to teleport several solar systems away before telling Stark he couldn’t make it when he was cut off by a sudden whine. 

The red and gold armor landed a few feet to his left, the suit splitting into pieces and returning to the reactor as the man inside took several steps. 

“You’re leaving without even saying hi?” 

Loki felt his lips tug downwards, and he turned away.  

“I don’t see any of your fellow team mates around.”  

“Oh, no, that’s tomorrow,” Tony said, “Tonight’s just us. Us being me, Pep, Rhodey and my little girl.”

Loki whirled around, glaring at the billionaire. “You _tricked_ me?” 

“Hey,” Tony protested, raising his hands placatingly, “We decided this together, Rhodey and Pepper wanted to have dinner with you, and Morgan misses you, so.”

The god narrowed his eyes but relaxed slightly.  

“Also, yeah it was fun tricking you.” Tony couldn’t help but add, grinning when the glare returned full force. 

“But really,” the mortal said, his voice taking on a more serious tone, prompting Loki to stop glaring at him, “It's an honest invitation, and I haven’t thanked you for what you did last year.”

Loki hissed and turned away, feeling his face burn with embarrassment.  

“I didn’t do it for you.” He snapped uncomfortably. 

Tony just smiled, “Doesn’t matter, you saved my life - more than once in fact - and I haven’t thanked you properly for that. So just come for dinner will you?”

Loki shifted from one foot to the other, a habit he picked up from the mortals. He could sense that Stark was being genuine, and it made him uncomfortable, since nobody had ever bothered to really thank him before. 

“Come _on_ ,” Tony wheedled, “It’s just a dinner, I’m not asking you to bind yourself to this place for the rest of your super long life.”

“Besides,” the hero continued, his face scrunching up, “I still need to get back at you for one thing. It was _totally_ you back in 2012 wasn’t it? You knew who I was in that stupid outfit didn’t you?”

Loki felt his lips curl but he raised an eyebrow, “You must be delusional Stark, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Tony gaped. “Don’t lie,” he accused, pressing a finger into the god’s chest.

“Me? Lie? Whatever makes you think I will?”

“You asshole, you couldn’t have just _not_ taken the Tesseract? It would have saved us a hell lot of time and trouble you know?”

”Like I said Stark, I have no idea what you are speaking of. I’ve only ever taken the cube from the vaults of Asgard.” The god replied, adopting a look of innocence. 

They fell into a companionable silence, broken only when Tony spoke up again. 

“But honestly, if you don’t want to, you can leave, I’m not forcing you. Just know that Morgan loves you and misses you and she’ll be really disappointed you didn’t come in and we’ll _all_ eat your share of the cookies.”

Loki scowled, mildly annoyed that his discomfort could be read so easily. He spent another minute thinking, then replaced the conflicted look on his face with one of condescension. “Very well,” he conceded, sniffing haughtily, “If you insist on providing a free meal I will not refuse. And I will allow your spawn no more than five of your minutes of contact.” 

The inventor just grinned knowingly, turning to the house and hollering at the top of his lungs, “ _Morgan_! Your favorite uncle Loki is here!”

(He stayed for dinner and then some, never letting the young Stark out of his sight for long.) 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a review on your way out!! :) Let me know if you enjoyed the fic or absolutely hated it :)
> 
> Feel free to drop by and find me on tumblr if you want to rant: @shadowsofmoonracer or my writing blog: @midnight-hallucinations
> 
>  
> 
> So as mentioned above, I have some more rants; these are short, I could go a lot longer but I didn't want to clog up the notes at the bottom.
> 
> The Russo’s screwed over so many characterizations I’m so pissed off.  
> I’m not even a Team Cap person and I agree that him going to live his life with Peggy was so out of character because hello? She would have had a husband and kids and Steve knew that. Not to mention I was salty af because after all the trouble he caused just to get Bucky he then decides to abandon him altogether? 
> 
> Bullshit. 
> 
> And Thor, don’t get me started on Thor. Ragnarok gave us a Thor who found his worth in himself, not in a magical hammer. The Russo’s regressed him to TDW Thor, whereby he pushes the responsibility of kingship into someone else under the pretext of being noble and wanting to do some soul search where in fact it was pure selfishness. (Also I cannot stand the fact that Loki didn’t even warrant any mention whatsoever.) 
> 
> Natasha - that was a whole other can of worms. It might have been more heart wrenching - when she claims to have found this family, referring to the avengers - had the avengers actually been a family in all the past movies. Because they weren’t. At all. And you can’t throw in a line about being family when none of their actions ever reflected that.


End file.
